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Author
Topic: Anyone Had a Bad Sustiva/Atripla Rash and Still take it? (Read 10785 times)

I was wondering if anyone had a bad Rash with sustiva and stayed with the drug and hopefully the rash went away. Several years ago I was taking SUSTIVA and COMBIVIR but I had a bad rash over my back and legs and the doctor took me off. I then started Viramune/truvada which I had NO RASH and no side effects. I was on viramune/truvada for several years. I had to stop meds because of some liver issues so to get to the point, I can't take viramune anymore. I also can't take some PI's.

My Dr. wants to start me on ATRIPLA and says we should be able to work thru the rash. My Dr. is also a leading hiv specialist in nyc. but I am a little scared. i remember this rash because i had a slight fever and it did cover most of my body. I also get a rash from alot of other drugs including some pain killers (anyone else ever feel like they ar ein the 1% of people who get these side effects.

So anyone else have a substantial rash and work thru it with benadryl or something like that.

I started Atripla almost 3 weeks ago. I got a rash at day 7 that started out slow and eventually covered my body, and itched pretty bad. My doctor put me on hydrocortisone and zyrtec and we treated through it. The rash is almost gone now. Took about 2 weeks, but was worth it IMO. The itching started about week 2 of the rash. My skin is pretty sensitive, so I was scared I might not be able to handle it, but I did. It felt like a bad sunburn.

My advice is to try to stick with it if you can. But make sure your doctor sees the rash and helps you though it.

Thanks for the info. I am going to start taking the Atripla after Thanksgiving. Hopefully with Benadryl I wont have issues like before. Cross my fingers. I am also going to try and take it in the morning sinc eI dont remember having any other issues except the rash before. Of course, the rash freaked me out so I wasnt thinking of much else.

I had the reash...Began like day seven or something like that...I got panicked, and covered all my body (even my face)...I looked like sunburned...After sometime, It left alone...However, the other side effect, I still have, is feelin drunken like 2 hours fater taking sustiva...And drunken is REALLY drunken..Almost unuable to walk.

I'm glad I'm not the only one going through this. My doctor (one of the top HIV specialists in NY), put me on Atripla because it's such an easy regimen and it's my first time on HIV meds. I started Friday, Nov 17th. The first few days were awful, I was always dizzy and nauseous. I remember I couldn't walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night because it felt as if I was really drunk. However most of the side effects had gone away by Thanksgiving. Yesterday however I started getting a rash that got worse as the day progressed. This morning I had a bad rash (red spots) all over my face and body which were absolutely itchy. I took benadryl which helped with the itchiness but I've also developed a slight fever and I'm also really tired. I've spent the day in bed. I was afraid that I was just wildly allergic to the sustiva in Atripla (I also have very sensitive skin). However reading your comments have given me hope that I am not the only one going through this and that I'm not going crazy. My doctor told me that a rash is a very common side effect but that it normally goes away after two weeks. Comforting words but I still feel like crap! I'll give him a call tomorrow, and he'll hopefully prescribe something to help with these latest side effects. For the person experiencing "the Drunken Feeling" two hours after taking sustiva at night. I found that it was really bad the first few days, but this went away. In fact I don't suffer from the dizziness or the extreme nausea anymore and I am still waiting for the "vivid sustiva dreams" to happen. I'm hoping this rash goes away too.

Hey there,I spoke to my doctor, he said that a head-to-toe rash is normal and that he would be more concerned if I only had a rash in one part of my body. He also told me that the rash should go away after about 5 days, but not all at once but slowly. He also told me to stick with the benadryl. I'm hanging in there. Haven't been to work in a couple of days (Thankfully boss is a friend who knows i'm starting meds), I also dont want to have to explain to people exactly how I managed to get sunburned in November. A bad sunburn is what it looks like. The Benadryl is helping with the itch, but it knocks me out cold. I also have a slight fever but I dont want to over medicate myself so I trying to deal with it, thankfully I seem to be sleeping it off.KRH, hope you do ok!

Well, Day 7 here.. and no Rash whatsoever. Strange because when I did this before the rash starte within a few days.. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I did attempt to take Atriple in the morning but I was so woozy I switched to the night time.

Hey There,I actually went back to the gym today since the rash is mostly gone. I hope you stay in the clear over the next few days and avoid the rash. I got mine on day 8 or 9. By the way, are you also having trouble sleeping? I am also a bit depressed, don't know if it's the atripla or not. I can't wait to go back to my doctor.Best of luck to you KRH! I'm praying for you as well.-Marc

Not so much trouble sleeping. More like I go to bed and sleep and then wake up about 5-6 hours later. But I can usually go to sleep.. This first week was hard as I felt I wasnt actually getting alot of deep sleep. However, it seems to be getting better.

I had a body rash that lasted a week. The doc prescribed two antihiostimines and one over the counter. I lived in Aveena for that week. It is the one for poison ivy and small pox. Buy the box turn the tap on and be prepared for a long week of sleeping in the bath tub!

Logged

"You shut your mouthhow can you sayI go about things the wrong wayI am human and I need to be lovedjust like everybody else does"The Smiths

Day 9 and I woke up this morning covered from head to toe with a rash. I guess I didn't do my research very well to know that I had a 46% chance of getting it. I'm waiting to hear from my doctor, but I'm glad to have read these postings so I've already popped a couple of benedryl. The side effects so far had been very mild...I take a tylenol pm so that I can fall asleep, mild diarrhea alternating with constipation (go figure?), and pretty tame dreams. But now I'm itching from head to toe...but I'm also glad to know that it will go away. Thanks for being there!

I am on day 8 of Atripla and just noticed the rash beginning. The palms of my hands are splotchy and chest back and neck have small red dots like others have reported. I wasn't ready for a rash, so I'm glad to read about everyone else getting it too. No itching yet, but if it gets any worse I'll break out some Benadryl.

This morning on day 8 I also noticed that the lymph nodes in my neck have shrunk to the point that I can almost no longer feel them. I guess this stuff is working already. I was excited as can be about the lymph nodes going down, until noticing the rash.

I just tested postive 6 weeks ago, and my first cd4 and viral load count was 315, and 22,000.

I got the whole body rash 9 days after starting. My doc said he noticed a trend with younger people he had recently prescribed Atripla and the whole-body rash. He decided to take me off and put me on a different regimen so I won't be going back to Atripla.